Data technology is being used to an increasing extent in the communications industry to carry various types of signals and data. In telephone communications, for example, the use of data lines between central offices and individual residential and business subscribers has allowed for large increases in signal traffic and improved signal quality. Telecommunications circuitry is generally housed in telecommunications cabinets placed at or near the subscriber locations, with a single cabinet typically serving a large number of individual subscribers. In telecommunications cabinets, racks or banks of circuits are provided in the form of slide-out circuit boards that are easily removed from the equipment rack when repair or replacement is needed. Due to the large number of circuit boards housed in a telecommunications cabinet, an even greater number of cables, including, but not limited to, fiber optic and copper cables, are also housed in the telecommunications cabinet. The numerous cables tend to interfere with access to the various components and circuit boards housed in the telecommunications cabinet.
One problem associated with the large number of cables terminated at a rack system is that the cables typically hang downwardly from their terminated position. The weight of the hanging cables can cause a terminated cable to become pulled out of its terminated position, thereby resulting in an electrically open condition. Accordingly, a need exists for maintaining a cable in its terminated position to substantially prevent an electrically open condition.
Because data cables can be fragile and cannot be bent or deformed in the same manner as electrical power wires, it is difficult to compactly and efficiently manage the data cables. The data cables can interfere with work done by personnel in the telecommunications cabinet such that the personnel often must move the data cables out of the way in the area in which they are working, thereby subjecting the cable to undesirable bending or flexing. Furthermore, due to the large number of cables within the telecommunications cabinet, personnel often accidentally bump into or move the cables. Due to the fragility of the cables, small degrees of bending or flexing may damage or even break the cables. Accordingly, a need exists to provide strain relief to cables terminated at a rack system to substantially prevent a cable from becoming pulled out of its terminated position.